Best Buy will offer free shipping with no minimum

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Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. said Tuesday it will offer free shipping on its website beginning Nov. 1 through Dec. 27 with no minimum purchase as the battle for holiday dollars begins to heat up.

All 400,000 items offered at Bestbuy.com will be eligible for free shipping.

Retailers often offer free shipping deals around the holidays but usually set a minimum purchase or other restrictions. This year, Best Buy is placing no such restrictions.

The offer is the latest salvo in the holiday price war retailers wage each year as they try to attract customers who still are spending cautiously almost four years after the onset of the recession.

"Consumers are looking for value, service and savings this year, and our goal is to provide them with convenient, creative and less costly ways to make the holiday shopping experience more enjoyable," said Barry Judge, Best Buy executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

Best Buy also is offering same-day store pickup, shipping of online orders to stores and relaxed restrictions on returns during the holidays.

Other retailers also are launching new incentives. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will match prices on anything it sells from Nov. 1 to Dec. 25. If you find the identical product selling anywhere else for less, you get a gift card in the amount of the difference.

Staples and Bed Bath & Beyond, meanwhile, have said they will match online prices of competitors.

And Sears is offering to beat brick-and-mortar competitors' best price -- online or in stores -- by 10 percent.